Letter Accompanying the Recognitio from Francis Cardinal Arinze, Prefect, Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments

NEW MASS TEXTS ONLINE

June 2008 - The new translation of the Order of Mass recently received “recognitio” from the Holy See, and is now accessible online from the US Conference of Catholic Bishops. The Bishops' Committee on Divine Worship has also created a “Missal Information” web page to be helpful in formation and catechesis. A letter from Bishop Arthur Serratelli, Chairman of the BCDW, says, in part:

The Committee on Divine Worship provides here materials for our priests and the faithful which can be used for catechesis and preparation for the eventual implementation of the revised texts. Although there are international and national efforts underway to provide materials for formation, the Committee on Divine Worship would like to begin providing information now for people to use for formation....

It will provide people with a single place to look to obtain an orientation for themselves and others who are interested in preparing to receive the final translation of the third edition of the Roman Missal. I hope that the extensive work of the Bishops and all involved in the process of translation, formation, and preparation of these texts will bear abundant fruit in the vibrant and authentic worship of the Church.

Letter Accompanying the Recognitio from Francis Cardinal Arinze, Prefect, Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments

Congregatio De Cultu Divino
Et Disciplina Sacramentorum

Addressed to Cardinal Francis E. George, OMI
President of the Conference of Bishops of the United States of America

Prot. n. 1464/06/L
Rome, June 23, 2008

Your Eminence,

This Congregation of Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments is pleased to enclose the decree by which it has granted recognitio for the territory of your Conference of Bishops for the new English-language transaltion of significant parts of the Ordo Missae as found in the Missale Romanum, editio typica tertia, including most of those texts used in every celebration of Holy Mass.

This Dicastery has no little satisfaction in arriving at this juncture. Nevertheless, the Congregation does not intend that these texts should be put into liturgical use immediately. Instead, the granting now of the recognitio to this crucial segment of the Roman Missal will provide time for the pastoral preparation of priests, deacons and for appropriate catechesis of the lay faithful. It will likewise facilitate the devising of musical settings for the parts of the Mass, bearing in mind the criteria set forth in the Instruction Liturgiam Authenticam, n. 60, which requires that the musical settings of liturgical texts use only the actual approved texts and never be paraphrased.

As regards the text enclosed, this Dicastery wishes to draw attention to the following points:

1. The attached text is to be considered binding. For its part, this Congregation is confident that the universal use of these texts will greatly contribute to the building up of the Faith throughout the broad and diverse English-speaking world.

2. It is to be borne in mind that use of this text is restricted by copyright. Therefore, all pertinent copyright legislation in civil law is to be observed in accordance with the statues which this Congregation approved for the Mixed Commission known as the International Commission on English in the Liturgy.

3. Although the Mixed Commission took the initiative of distributing, along with these Parts of the Order of Mass, an adapted text of Eucharistic Prayer IV, Higher Authority has determined that as regards to either modification of the typical edition or the manner of translating it: non expedire.

4. Likewise, the Holy Father has decided that , in response to a recommendation of the Eleventh Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops (October 2-23, 2005), a selection of additional formulae of dismissal for the faithful should be introduced in n. 144 of the Missale Romanum and consequently these are include in the attached text.

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